Brendan Quinn to Speak at Quarterback Club

College basketball writer Brendan Quinn is the scheduled speaker for today's Chattanooga Quarterback Club luncheon at noon at Finley Stadium.

Lunch is $10 and is open to the public.

A graduate of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Quinn covered the city’s five Division I basketball teams known as the Big 5 - Temple, Lasalle, Penn., St. Joseph's, St, Bonaventure - as a staff writer at The (Philadelphia) Bulletin from 2006 to 2008 and as a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2009 and 2010.

He accepted a position as sports editor at Nooga.com in August 2011 and spent nine months in Chattanooga before heading two hours north to the Knoxville News Sentinel in June 2012.

Quinn has written for Basketball Times, a national college basketball magazine, since 2006 and was named one of the four best sportswriters in the country under 30 by the United States Basketball Writers Association in 2010 and 2011. In the 2011 USBWA Best Writing Contest, his story, "A Toast to Tom Jernstedt," finished fourth nationally in the enterprise writing category.

Six area Division II basketball teams have advanced to the final eight of the TSSAA Division II Class A and Class AA basketball tournament which will be played on Friday and Saturday at host schools. The Baylor boys are the only team to earn a home game and will host Ensworth on Saturday. McCallie will travel to MUS in another Class AA game and CCS will play at Northpoint ... (click for more)

The County Commission has approved a sizable pay raise for its four magistrates, taking them from the current $66,000 per year to $92,000 by 2021. The raises will take effect beginning with new terms for magistrates. Two of the current magistrates are up for re-appointment in May. Their pay level will become $80,000. It will rise by $4,000 per year until reaching the $92,000. ... (click for more)

Sandra and I are saddened this morning after learning of the death of Billy Graham. We rejoice today, because Mr. Graham once said "It will be reported that Billy Graham has died, but that won't be the truth. He said the truth is that he had only moved to a new location". I remember when we named 15th Street as Billy Graham Avenue, his daughter Gigi came for the dedication ... (click for more)

On the morning after the mass shooting in Florida last week, a 17-year-old at Ledyard High School in Connecticut made an offhand comment during his first period class, “I could buy an AR-15.” At that, all the teachers panicked. Really. The school was soon so rattled by the comment the principal called the cops. And those five words got the child shackled, taken into custody, and ... (click for more)